Hello, so I feel like I say this a lot but this isn't one of my favs. It's a bit of an uncomfortable episode as well as sad, man I nearly cried as I was rewatching Estelle's scenes whilst writing for this episode. Anyway, as per I hope I do it justice. I don't like uploading until I have everything in the works just so I don't leave you guys waiting too long, I'm very nearly done on the second chapter for this so with luck I should have the entirety of this episode up in the next couple of days, and then its on to Countrycide. I have some ideas for that which I hope you all enjoy, something to look out for. Anyway Anyway, on with the show! Enjoy, review etc!

Chapter 16

Small Worlds Part 1

Rose emerged from Jack's office, running a hand through her hair she let out a yawn as she made her way over to Jack and Ianto. She had heard voices and upon checking the time she found it to be unusually early for anyone other than her and Jack to be in the hub, so ignoring the voice inside her head telling her to go back to sleep she decided to drag herself out of bed and find out what was going on.

Jack and Ianto both looked up from the monitor as they heard footsteps approaching and Jack couldn't help the thought entering his mind of how cute Rose looked first thing in the morning.

"What's goin' on?" She asked them, folding her arms across her chest as she came to stand beside Jack.

"There's been some weird weather patterns recently." Ianto told her before turning back to the computer.

Rose frowned, leaning her head against Jack shoulder she raised a hand to her face as she let out another yawn.

"Weather patterns." She repeated for clarification.

"You're here at stupid o'clock because of weather patterns." She continued, looking at Ianto as if he had sprouted a second head.

Jack smirked, putting his arm around Rose's shoulders he pressed a quick kiss to the top of his sleepy friends head.

"Go back to bed, we've got this covered." He told her with a smile.

She shook her head, releasing another dramatised sigh she stepped out of Jack's grasp and rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wake herself up.

"I'm already up now, I'll get us coffee." She told them with a shrug.

"I'll do it." Ianto announced suddenly, standing from his seat and making to move before Rose held up her hand to stop him.

"It's fine, I can do it." She assured him with a smile.

She waited for him to sit back down before she turned away from the pair and made her way over to the coffee machine. It had been nearly two weeks since the Cyberman incursion, Jack had made the decision to keep Ianto around despite his betrayal and he had been working above and beyond to prove himself as a worthy member of the team. He and Rose had barely spoken in the days following the incident and although since then they had made small talk it wasn't clear if they'd ever get back to the way they had been before.

Rose returned a few minutes later with three cups, she passed one to Jack who accepted it with a smile of thanks and set one down on the desk Ianto was sat at before pulling out a chair and sitting herself down beside him with her own.

They spent the remaining hours before the others arrived monitoring the weather patterns, there was little else to do other than make notes of the changes and the places in which it was happening so if it occurred more frequently they could look into it further.

The day officially began as the others filtered in, it had been a fairly slow morning and there was very little activity going on with the rift so it appeared as though the day would continue in a similar way to how it had started.

Rose was leaning back in her chair, her third coffee of the day sat on her desk in front of her as she stared at her screen with a frown. She never wished for trouble but at this point she willed for just something, anything.

"Hey Rosie!"

She looked over to where the voice had come from and gave Jack a smile as she met his eye, he was the only person other than her ex Jimmy to call her by that name and unlike said ex he was the only one she allowed to get away with referring to her by the nickname.

"Fancy taking a trip?" He asked, already grabbing his coat and slipping it on as he waited for her response.

"Definitely." She told him with a nod, grateful to finally have something to do.

"Gwen?" Jack called over to her colleague who also nodded.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked as she grabbed her jacket and followed Gwen and Jack towards the exit.

"I had an invitation from an old friend." He told them simply, his response only raising more questions and giving zero answers.

The trio made their way down the street towards what appeared to be a hall of sorts, Rose looked at the flyers in the cabinets outside and her eyebrows rose in surprise as she realised the event they were attending.

"Fairies? Really Jack?" She asked him skeptically, they had both seen there fair share of interesting things but even after all of that, fairies still seemed a bit farfetched.

Jack looked back with a smirk, offering them both little more than a shrug before making his way inside.

The presentation had already begun as they entered the main hall so they took seats at the back as to not disturb those listening. An elderly woman stood at the front of the room, flicking through photographs on a projector as she explained to her audience about the creatures she had longed to see and had finally been able to capture. Her photographs were blurry but as she switched over to another a figure of light could be seen, it was more of a squint and you may be able to trick yourself into thinking it was some kind of firefly but to this woman, it was a fairy and she seemed very pleased with her discovery.

The talk was concluded with the woman explaining how despite what others may believe, she not only believed in their existence but she was also sure that they were friendly creatures and her being able to catch a glimpse of them was very much a privilege. Rose and the others applauded politely once it was over, although Jack seemed less than pleased with what had been discussed.

"She always gets it wrong." Jack told them with a sigh.

Before either Rose or Gwen had a chance to ask him to elaborate, he had already stood and was making his way over to the front of the room to the elderly woman who was now getting her things together ready to pack away.

They both stood and headed over to him, Gwen took another seat in a nearby chair whilst Rose came to stand beside Jack as he went through the photographs once more.

"Estelle when did you take these?" Jack asked the woman as he studied the photographs more closely.

"Couple of nights ago." Estelle told him with a smile.

"Where?" He continued.

"Roundstone wood." She added.

"That's not far from here." Gwen chimed in which earned her a nod of confirmation from Estelle.

Estelle passed Jack more photographs to look through, one of which showing the woods where she had first encountered the so called fairies.

"You alright?" Rose asked, noticing his sudden frown as he looked through the most recent photo.

"Jack and I have always disagreed about fairies, I only see the good ones and he only ever sees the bad." Estelle explained.

"They're all bad." Jack stated firmly and Estelle shook her head.

"I refuse to believe it." She told him with a shrug.

"I suppose one persons good could be another persons evil." Rose offered with a small smile.

"That's what his father used to say." Estelle said.

Rose's smile fell and she shot Jack a questioning glance, she knew he was from the 51st century so it would be impossible for Estelle to have met his father. He avoided her eye and she made a mental note to bring it up later when they were alone.

"Do you have any more of these?" Jack asked her and she nodded.

"I need to see them all." He told her.

The three of them helped Estelle pack away the rest of her things before accompanying her back to her home so she could show them the rest of her photographs.

They set the equipment down in Estelle's living room as she retrieved a folder full of photographs and offered it to Jack.

"They're mostly just pictures of the area." She told him.

She walked over to her sofa and picked up her cat, fussing over the feline she left the living room to let it out to play in the garden leaving the trio alone.

Rose leaned against the table with her arms folded as Jack flicked through the photographs, Gwen on the other hand was admiring the photographs on top of the fireplace.

"This is you." Gwen announced, walking over with a picture that sure enough looked identical to Jack.

Jack looked at the picture Gwen was holding, trusting Rose not to say anything he offered Gwen a smile.

"Sorry, no, that's my dad." He told her, taking the picture from her and moving to place it back where she had found it.

"He and Estelle were inseparable once upon a time." He added.

"Why did they part?" Gwen asked.

Rose stood in silence as she listened to the story, Jack had never mentioned Estelle to her before and as ridiculous as it sounded and felt she almost felt jealous of the connection they clearly shared.

"It was wartime, he was posted abroad and she volunteered to work on the land, it just happened that way." He explained, picking up another old photograph and passing it to Gwen before walking back over to where Rose was stood.

Gwen smiled as he told her the story, she studied the photograph for a few moments before putting it back.

"I'm gonna go check on Estelle." She told them before leaving the room and heading through the house and out into the garden.

Rose took the advantage of their newfound privacy and moved closer to Jack, putting a hand on his arm she offered him a small smile. She couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for him, to watch someone he loved grow old whilst he remained the same. It was the one thing that had kept The Doctor from allowing her in completely before they had been separated, but the difference with Jack was that his immortal burden was her fault.

"You saved my life that day Rosie, I've loved people I never would have known if it wasn't for you." He told her, as if he could sense where her thoughts were heading.

"Everything that's happened has brought me to where I am today, and I wouldn't change it for the world." He continued with a smile.

Rose returned his smile, glad he didn't blame her for what had happened and she'd also be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat glad for the outcome for her own selfish reasons.

"Let's grab Gwen and get back to the others." He said after a moment and she nodded.

Jack took the folder with him and they both headed outside to where Gwen and Estelle were on the tailed end a conversation about Jacks 'father'.

"Estelle, when you next see these creatures I want you to call us immediately, understand?" Jack asked his old friend as he came to stand beside her.

Estelle nodded with a smile and he continued.

"Night or day it doesn't matter, and please be careful."

"But Jack I have nothing to worry about." She assured him.

He sighed and put his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head.

"Just be careful, please." He asked her again.

The trio bid Estelle goodbye and despite her insistence that she would be fine, she assured Jack that she could give them a call should she see her friends again.

"Estelle shouldn't be living in town, she belongs the countryside." Jack voiced his thoughts aloud as they left her home and headed down the street back to where Jack had parked the suv.

"How often do you get to see her?" Rose asked, hoping Jack couldn't sense the slight jealousy she felt in her voice. She knew she had no reason to feel that way, whatever he and Estelle were had been over for literal decades, not to mention she and Jack were just friends and had been nothing more than that for a long time.

"We meet up every now and again." He told her with a shrug, if he sensed anything off in her tone then he didn't mention it.

"Whenever she sees her fairies?" Gwen chimed in with a smile.

"She calls them fairies, I don't." He stated firmly, disapproval of the given nickname evident in his tone.

"What do you call them?" She asked him.

"Never really had a name for them." He replied simply.

"Why not?" She continued to question.

"Something from the dawn of time, how could you possibly put a name to that." He told her.

"So are we talking alien or what?" Rose spoke up.

"They're worse than that." Jack said with a shake of his head.

"They're part of us, part of our world and we know nothing about them, we have no idea what they look like, so we pretend, we see them as happy with tiny little wings and bathed in moonlight." He continued.

"And they're not?" Rose assumed.

"No, think dangerous, something you can only half see like a glimpse, like something out of the corner of your eye, with a touch of myth, a touch of the spirit world and a touch of reality all jumbled together, old moments and memories that are frozen in amongst it, like debris spinning around a ringed planet, tossing, turning, whirling. Then backwards and forwards though time."

At some point during Jack's explanation, the three of them had come to a stop. Gwen still seemed skeptical but Rose had seen enough in her time to know whatever it was they were dealing with shouldn't be taken lightly.

"If it is them, we have to find them, before all hell breaks loose." He finished and Rose almost thought she could sense some fear in his voice. If this threat even had Jack scared, then she was terrified.